Rebellion surprised pretty much everyone yesterday when it shadow-dropped a Speedball reboot on Steam Early Access yesterday.
Based on the legendary Speedball titles from The Bitmap Brothers, this new version reimagines the brutal sport of the future for a new generation of players – only this time, the action has never looked as good, thanks to the use of Unreal Engine for the 3D graphics.
While Speedball isn't the greatest-looking game you've ever seen, it nonetheless represents a massive step up from previous 3D entries in the franchise. As before, the aim is to get the ball into your opponent's goal by passing it between your players and taking down the opposition with aggressive tactics.
Passing is handled by a single button press, with a tap producing an accurate (but short-range) throw, while a longer press results in a lob, which is handy for getting over the heads of your rivals and finding that loan player in acres of space.
Likewise, tackles are also handled by a single press, with a short tap pulling off a weak tackle while a longer press produces a power tackle, which sees your player speeding off in a single direction until they hit something.
And guess what? Shots are controlled in very much the same way. A tap will release a standard shot, with the direction being controlled by the stick. Hold the button down for longer, and you'll pull off a more powerful shot, but be careful – the longer you hold the button down, the higher the eventual shot will be, so you could well miss the target completely.
You also have the ability to jump, which has been a staple of the series for some time. In this iteration, you can twin your jumps with the shot button to create spectacular goals; the longer you hold down the button, the lower your shot will be.
You can twin your jumps with the shot button to create spectacular goals; the longer you hold down the button, the lower your shot will be
There are also environmental features to consider, such as spinning hazards which knock your players down if they get too close and tall pillars, situated directly in front of both goals. The latter can be used to pull off some stunning shots – leaping onto them forces your player to 'wall run' around them, and tapping shoot at just the right moment gives you a great chance of wrong-footing the keeper. There are also jump pads which can be used in very much the same way, if you get your timing spot-on.
The wall-running skill also applies to the sides of the arena, where the iconic 'star' icons are situated. Run over these stars (or hit them with the ball), and you get the chance to earn bonus points – these can be utterly instrumental in winning some tight matches. Oh, and if you're a fan of the usual "knock out the keeper to score" routine in Speedball 2, you might be out of luck here – the keepers possess shields for protection. However, even these are only capable of absorbing so much damage.
Players can become injured and removed from the arena – an event which earns the opposing team points. You also have to be mindful of each player's stamina; if they become exhausted too often, it reduces their maximum stamina for the remainder of the match, putting you at a distinct disadvantage.
All in all, there's a lot of depth to Speedball's mechanics, and everything controls well for a game still so early in its development (it runs brilliantly on the Steam Deck, too). A few die-hard fans of Speedball 2 might complain that the action isn't quite fast or frenetic enough, but to be honest, it runs along at such a brisk enough pace that it's occasionally hard to keep track of what's going on – so it remains to be seen if Rebellion will take such feedback into account as it tweaks the game.
A few die-hard fans of Speedball 2 might complain that the action isn't quite fast or frenetic enough
The shift to 3D is one that Speedball made many years ago – with less-than-impressive results, some fans might argue. It's certainly true that when The Bitmap Brothers shifted from 2D to 3D, their games lost the iconic 'metal pixel' look that artist Dan Malone had pretty much perfected on the Amiga. We're a little sad that this version of Speedball dresses its players in bright, colourful kits (which feel a world away from the worn-out look of Speedball 2) but it nonetheless still feels like there's a tangible connection between the gritty, dystopian setting of the original games and this new offering.
We're a little less enamoured with the needlessly ebullient commentary, which feels a little cringe-worthy at present; we'd prefer it if the original voice-overs from the second game were used instead ("Get Ready" can clearly be heard in the first trailer but isn't present in the game itself, so perhaps Rebellion will include OG sounds at some point).
As an Early Access release, Speedball is fairly light on content at the moment, with offline and online matches available but no career or management mode – yet. Rebellion has given the game a 12-month roadmap and will be adding in content over the next year, in line with player feedback, of course. What we have here represents the game at its earliest stage, and we have to say, there's enough quality on display to make us confident Rebellion can create a Speedball sequel that's truly worthy of the series.
If you're not as convinced as us, then there's always Speedball 2 HD.
Speedball is currently available in Steam Early Access for £14.99. Rebellion has said that this price is likely to rise as more features are added.